Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 4/27/11

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 4/27/11:

1. Action Comics #900 DC
2. Amazing Spider-Man #659 Marvel
3. American Vampire #14 Vertigo
4. Batman: Incorporated #5 DC
5. Brightest Day #24 DC
6. Captain America #617 Marvel
7. Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #1 IDW
8. Detective Comics #876 DC
9. Flash #11 DC
10. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors DC
11. Justice League: Generation Lost #24 DC
12. New Mutants #24 Marvel
13. New York Five #4 of 4 Vertigo
14. Secret Avengers #12 Marvel
15. Secret Avengers #12.1 Marvel
16. Uncanny X-Men #536 Marvel

First off I must say that this has been one of the most expensive weeks for me in a long time. Action Comics #900 has three covers at $5.99 a pop, and Brightest Day #24 and Justice League: Generation Lost #24 were both $4.99; so you do the math. I was honestly getting flash backs of a few years ago when most titles were $3.99. Despite the large amount of comics at such a high price this week there looks to be a lot of promising titles to read this week. Brightest Day and Justice League: Generation Lost are wrapping up and they will be discussed on next week's episode! Flash Point is getting closer with this week's Flash and Action Comics milestone issue #900 is a 96 page beast, but after 73 years in publication I wouldn't expect anything less. On a quick side note about this milestone that a comic book has actually reached I would like to say that Marvel releasing Deadpool and Wolverine 900's just to beat DC to having the 900 on an issue is lame. Oh yet another failure of Marvel. Maybe one day they will upgrade the quality of books they release. We can only hope. Oh and the only reason I bought Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness was for the J. Scott Campbell cover, but I may give it a read...maybe. Anyway, lots to read and I better get to it.

As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Random Comic Pick - Episode 5

My random comic pick on The Comic Conspiracy: Episode 5 was The Sixth Gun - Book 1: Cold Dead Fingers by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Brian Hurtt. This book was actually recommended to me by a friend and so I decided to give it a chance. You should too. The book is set in the wild west after the Civil War, and is filled with the paranormal and good old fashioned gun battles. The main theme running through the books is the guns, which don't run out of bullets and have different abilities, like fire and pestilence. Of course only one person may wield the gun at a time. I haven't really been a big fan of westerns, but I would highly recommend this dark tale to anyone who likes just plain good comics.

Comics Conspiracy is a great place to order comics by the way.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Why do I read more DC?

The answer is simple; better stories. I grew up a Marvel kid. I loved Spider-man, Wolverine, the X-Men, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk, but as I got older and my reading comprehension grew I started to read not because I liked the characters; I read for a good story.

After coming back to comics four years ago I jumped into catching up on Marvel, DC and Vertigo titles. I was trying to read as much as I could. I blew through graphic novels and new issues, but after about a year of this I started to move towards more DC and Vertigo titles than Marvel, because they had far better stories. I'm now reading mostly DC and Vertigo titles and my Marvel reading is down to 6 single issue titles a month and a random trade here and there.

Besides better stories DC is keeping their books cheaper overall (Drawing the line at $2.99). Marvel however, is still pumping out $3.99 books that don't hold my interest and often times come with a really shit extra story in the back. This never justifies the price of the book in my opinion. And when it comes to graphic novels DC, Vertigo, Image and other publishers have reasonable prices, while most Marvel trades start at twenty bucks but average 25. How this works out in the long run for Marvel is baffling to me.

Marvel is also over working their good writers. The few titles I pick up the writers are working on other fluff stories for minis and one shots, and you can tell that the caliber of main books suffers because of this. DC is guilty of this too, but I think they are more on top of trying to keep this under control. So, for those of you curious as to why my Marvel reading is not what it should be it is honestly because of quality and cost. Maybe some day in the future this will change, but for now I think I would much rather pick up an independent book I know nothing about that a Marvel book about a character I like.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 4/20/11 (not high version)

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 4/20/11:

1. Batman #709 DC
2. DC Universe Online Legends #6 DC
3. DMZ #64 Vertigo
4. Fables #104 Vertigo
5. Gotham City Sirens #22 DC
6. Green Lantern #65 DC
7. Green Lantern Corps #59 DC
8. Invincible Iron Man #503 Marvel
9. Legion of Super-Heroes #12 DC
10. Superman / Batman #83 DC

So many good books to read this week! One book is on the chopping block this week and that is Invincible Iron Man #503. The book hasn't been very good since issue #500 and I normally like Matt Fraction's work. We shall see come next issue though. Anyway I would highly recommend most of the books on my list this week for you to read. As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Random Comic Pick - Episode 4

My random comic pick on The Comic Conspiracy: Episode 4 was Superman: Earth One which is an original graphic novel written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by Shane Davis. This book answers the question, "What would Superman's origin be if it happened today?" This was the first of the straight to graphic novel series that DC is releasing and it is definitely worth picking up. Straczynski, who as of late has had difficulty hitting deadlines with single issue books, pens this tale very well and Davis's art adds so much to the enjoyment of this amazing story. If you get the chance pick it up and give it a read.

Comics Conspiracy is a great place to order comics by the way.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 4/13/11

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 4/13/11:

1. Adventure Comics #525 DC
2. Amazing Spider-Man #658 Marvel
3. Batman and Robin #22 DC
4. Birds of Prey #11 DC
5. Booster Gold #43 DC
6. Cinderella: Fables are Forever #3 Vertigo
7. Flash #10 DC
8. Justice League: Generation Lost #23 DC
9. Outsiders #38 DC
10. Superboy #6 DC
11. Superman #710 DC
12. Uncanny X-Men # 535 Marvel
13. The Unwritten #24 Vertigo
14. X-Men Legacy #247 Marvel

This week I'm looking forward to X-Men Legacy #247, Adventure Comics #525, and Justice League: Generation Lost #23. My pick of the week is Outsiders #38, because that is my favorite super team. Unfortunately the current series is being cancelled, so I got to enjoy them while it lasts. As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Random Comic Pick - Episode 3

My random comic pick on The Comic Conspiracy: Episode 3 was Transmetropolitan written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson. If you have ever wanted to eat cereal, while watching a feed screen of advertisements about virtually everything, while having sex with a half cyborg pleasure nympho, while you get smacked out of your mind on some ultra hallucinogens, and have it all uploaded to your feed so the world can watch the experience right before you turn yourself into a vapor being; then this is the book for you. Transmet (slang version of title) follows journalist Spider Jerusalem around a futuristic world after he comes back from retirement to give everyone the truth enema they so desperately need. Even if it means he has to shoot you with his bowel disruptor to do it. Transmet is face paced, wicked cool and totally out of this world. If you get the chance pick it up and give it a read.

Comics Conspiracy is a great place to order comics by the way.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Green Lantern Reading List

*Updated* - 1/6/15

There are a lot of Green Lantern books out there. If you are interested in diving into some of the Green Lantern lore then you should start with the Green Lantern (2005) run by Geoff Johns, and the Green Lantern Corps (2006) series from Peter Tomasi and others. Both of these books come highly recommend from me especially since this is was my introduction to the ring bearers of the emotional spectrum.

Note: This list only covers Green Lantern and Green Lantern Family titles from 2005 to present, and volume numbers have been added to some of these books because there where none on the actual TPBs which makes it really hard to know what order to read them in.

GREEN LANTERN:

Green Lantern - Rebirth
Green Lantern (Vol. 01) - No Fear
Green Lantern (Vol. 02) - Revenge of the Green Lanterns
Green Lantern (Vol. 03) - Wanted: Hal Jordan
Green Lantern (Vol. 04) - The Sinestro Corps War (Vol. 1)
Green Lantern (Vol. 05) - The Sinestro Corps War (Vol. 2)
Green Lantern (Vol. 06) - Tales of the Sinestro Corps
Green Lantern (Vol. 07) - Secret Origin
Green Lantern (Vol. 08) - Rage of the Red Lanterns
Green Lantern (Vol. 09) - Agent Orange
-Go to Blackest Night and Brightest Day-

To get started on this great run by Geoff Johns download the first issue from Comixology.
Click Here


GREEN LANTERN CORPS:

Green Lantern Corps - Recharge
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 1) - To Be a Lantern
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) - The Dark Side of Green
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 3) - Ring Quest
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 4) - Sins of the Star Sapphire
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 5) - Emerald Eclipse
-Go to Blackest Night-
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 7) - Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns
(Happens during Brightest Day, but isn't core to the main story.)
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 8) - The Weaponer
(Happens during Brightest Day, but isn't core to the main story.)

To get started on this great run by Peter Tomasi download the first issue for FREE from Comixology.
Click Here


BLACKEST NIGHT: - Stories in these trades happen simultaneously except with Tales of the Corps, which contains the origins of key members of the different Lantern Corps. I personally love the one about Bleeze.

Blackest Night - Tales of The Corps
Blackest Night
Green Lantern (Vol. 10) - Blackest Night
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 6) - Blackest Night

The following trades collect the mini's from Blackest Night. These minis are not essential to main story, but some are interesting reads on there own.

Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 1
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 2
Blackest Night: Rise Of The Black Lanterns

(For the best single issue reading list for Blackest Night go here. Thank you Comic Reading Orders for this list.)

To get started on this epic Green Lantern event download the #0 issue from Comixology.
Click Here


BRIGHTEST DAY: - Except for a little cross over in the beginning of Brightest Day - Vol. 1 and Green Lantern (Vol. 11) - Brightest Day these trades can be read separately.

Brightest Day - Vol. 1
Brightest Day - Vol. 2
Brightest Day - Vol. 3
Green Lantern (Vol. 11) - Brightest Day
Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors - Vol. 1

Green Lantern - War of the Green Lanterns
War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath


NEW 52: 
Despite the rejiggering of the DC Universe the Green Lantern Family of books didn't really change from what had come before. So, you'll continue your Green Lantern Reading with these trades.

GREEN LANTERN:

Vol. 1 - Sinestro
Vol. 2 - Revenge of the Black Hand
Green Lantern - Rise of the Third Army
Green Lantern - Wrath of the First Lantern
Vol. 3 - The End
Vol. 4 - Dark Days
Vol. 5 - Test of Wills
Vol. 6 - The Life Equation (Release Date: May 19, 2015 [HC])

GREEN LANTERN CORPS:

Vol. 1 - Fearsome
Vol. 2 - Alpha War
Vol. 3 - Willpower (Most of this trade is also collected in Green Lantern - Rise of the Third Army and Green Lantern - Wrath of the First Lantern)
Vol. 4 - Rebuild
Vol. 5 - Uprising (Release Date: Jan 20, 2015 [TPB])

GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS:

Vol. 1 - The Ring Bearer
Vol. 2 - Beyond Hope
Vol. 3 - Love & Death (Most of this trade is also collected in Green Lantern - Rise of the Third Army and Green Lantern - Wrath of the First Lantern)
Vol. 4 - Gods and Monsters
Vol. 5 - Godkillers (Release Date: February 24, 2015 [TPB])

RED LANTERNS:

Vol. 1 - Blood and Rage
Vol. 2 - The Death of the Red Lanterns
Vol. 3 - The Second Prophecy (Most of this trade is also collected in Green Lantern - Rise of the Third Army and Green Lantern - Wrath of the First Lantern)
Vol. 4 - Blood Brothers
Vol. 5 - Atrocities


I understand how frustrating it can be to try to get into something without clear labeling of the actual reading order. Hopefully, this reading list helps out.

If you want to get a good introduction to Hall Jordan the Green Lantern to see if you like the character before trying to tackle all of these books I would highly recommend reading Green Lantern (Vol. 7) - Secret Origin. This a great origin retelling by Geoff Johns, and a really good jumping on point for the whole series despite it being volume seven.

Hopefully you found this list to be helpful.

Comics Conspiracy is a great place to order comics by the way.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Random Comic Pick - Episode 2


My random comic pick on The Comic Conspiracy: Episode 2 was Infinite Crisis written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway. If you get the chance pick it up and give it a read.

Comics Conspiracy is a great place to order comics by the way.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 4-6-11

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 4/6/11:

1. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38 Marvel
2. Annihilators #2 of 4 Marvel
3. Brightest Day #23 DC
4. DC Universe Online: Legends #5 DC
5. Fear Itself #1 of 7 Marvel
6. House of Mystery #36 Vertigo
7. Nonplayer #1 Image
8. Ozma of Oz #5 of 8 Marvel
9. Superman/Batman Annual #5 DC
10. Uncanny X-Men # 534.1 Marvel

I'm really looking forward to Brightest Day #23 and Annihilators #2 of 4, and Ryan Higgins is all excited for Nonplayer #1, so I'm checking out this new title from Image Comics that I would otherwise have passed on. I'll let you know how it is here and on the Geekbox Forums, because there will or already is a post about it up there. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

WonderCon 2011


Today was the first time I ever attended a WonderCon because I have always never had money or time to attend in the past. It was all I expected it to be and more. My wonderful girlfriend Calli, my unborn son Brody, and Calli's father Randy joined me for this geek fest, and even they had a blast. Brody was kicking a lot at while we were there. I hope it was because he was excited to be there and not out of fear.

There was a lot of stuff to see and do so we only walked the floor and checked out the convention as a whole. Still there were some memorable moments. One of the first things I saw was the Mattel booth where they had some of the large scale DC Universe Legion of Superheroes figures out this August; just in time for my birthday!



And while I was at the booth I swapped a Validus left leg for Kilowog's right arm. Now I need to build me a Kilowog figure. Oh yeah!



We also saw and met Robert LaSardo.



Calli has been really freaked out by him ever since she saw him play Escobar Gallardo in Nip/Tuck. Thank you Robert for being an awesome person on screen and off.

I got to meet Paul Levitz. This was a joy for me since I have just recently gotten into the Legion of Superheroes. He was nice enough to share a few words with me and he wanted me to thank my dad for making Atari games. Paul loves him some Atari. He signed my Great Darkness Saga Hardcover and took a photo with me. Thank you Paul





Definitely going to print this one up and hang it on my wall.

WonderCon 2011 was a lot of fun and if I missed you out there this year, well there is always next year.

Welcome to Conspirator Brock's Conspiracy Blog...

It came up on episode 2 of The Comic Conspiracy that my existing blog's name is too long to actually use on the podcast. So, when it comes to checking out info about me and what I think outside of what is said on the The Comic Conspiracy I decided to create a blog specifically for our awesome listening audience. Between here and the Geekbox Forums I will be trying to keep everyone updated on what is going on with me and the wonderful world of comics.